


Aftermath

by TheWalkingDino



Series: Rickyl one-shots [3]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Comforting Daryl Dixon, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes Feels, M/M, Mention of attempted rape, Sad Rick Grimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9849353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWalkingDino/pseuds/TheWalkingDino
Summary: The aftermath of the Claimer's attack on Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Daryl. Daryl takes care of Rick and tells him everything he needs to hear. Rick is upset and Daryl comforts him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters. Attempted rape is mentioned.

_“You’re my brother.”_ Rick knew it wasn’t the right word, but he didn’t know what else he could say.

_ _ _ _

 

“Shit, Rick.” Daryl huffed, dabbing the wet rag against the man’s bloody beard. “It’s gon’ take forever to clean this damn mess.”

Rick shot him an angry glare, “Told you I’d clean myself up. You need to be with them right now. They need you.” He looked in the opposite direction, where Michonne and Carl sat on a tree stump. Carl was shaking, Michonne was rubbing his back gently. They were _scared_ of Rick. Right now, they needed Daryl.

“Yer boy don’t need me. He needs ya, Rick.” Daryl grabbed one side of Rick’s face in his hand softly and tilted his head up to see where there was still more blood to be wiped away. He squinted his eyes and rubbed the damp cloth on the underside of Rick’s jaw.

“He’s _scared._ ” Rick tried to shake his head, but Daryl’s hand held him steady. “You saw what happened, Daryl.” He closed his eyes, and the images flashed beneath his eyelids. Those people. The claimers. “They were going to rape them. They were gonna rape my boy.”

“But they didn’t. You saved them.” The rag slid across Rick’s chin, slowly. “Ya saved yer family.”

“I shouldn’t have overdone it.” Rick’s voice shook as he spoke, “Carl saw what I did. Ripped a man’s jugular out with my teeth.” He swallowed down a sob. “Kept stabbing that other man. Disemboweled him right in front of my son. I went overboard.”

“You didn’t kill _men._ They weren’t men. They were monsters.” Daryl tipped his water bottle over the rag, letting a little more water soak through onto the cloth. He pressed it against Rick’s temple, tenderly wiping away the blood.

“Did you see the way they looked at me?” Rick croaked. There were tears welling up in his eyes. “They were horrified.” His head drooped, his shoulders rolled forward, and he stared at the ground. “I’m never going to be the same again. There’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“Dammit, Rick.” Daryl dropped the rag onto the dirt and trapped Rick’s head between both of his hands. He forced him to look back up and captured his doleful blue eyes with his own. The same despair reflecting between them. The same sorrow. The same fear. The only difference was that in Rick’s eyes, there was an inhumane kind of aggression lurking beneath the ocean blue surface. In Daryl’s eyes, there was a strength forged from years of being beaten down, from being told that he _couldn’t._ But he _could._ And he was going to do whatever he had to do to prove that to Rick. “Ya listen ta me.” He reluctantly dropped his hands from Rick’s face. “Ya did exactly what needed ta be done. Ya saved yer family. Ya saved Michonne, saved Carl, and ya saved me. If ya think for one fucking second that we aren’t grateful for it then yer insane.”

“Daryl-”

“I ain’t _done_ yet.” Daryl interrupted, “I have had yer back ever since ya showed up at the quarry, even if I wanted ta kill ya at first. Had yer back during every fuckin’ shit show, and ya’ve had my back. We’re always there for each other when it matters, and I’m here for ya now. I’m here ta tell ya to pick up the fuckin’ pieces and be here for us. We need ya. I need ya. Don’t go and give up on us now. Don’t let go.”

Rick nodded his head and reached out one hand, resting it on Daryl’s arm. “I’m not gonna give up on you. Not gonna let go.” He stepped closer, slumping forward and resting his head in the crook of Daryl’s neck. “I love you.” He lifted his head to find Daryl’s blue eyes, with lights dancing inside them, staring right into his eyes. He placed one hand on the back of Daryl’s head and pressed their foreheads together, letting their breaths mix together in the tiny space between them.

“I love ya too,” Daryl whispered back. He gripped the back of Rick’s shirt with one hand and found Rick’s free hand dangling by his side. He grabbed the leader’s hand, their fingers intertwining, and decided that if it was up to him, he’d never let go. 


End file.
